ONE WEEK TO GO!
Lessee here . . .
First, the Disclaimer:
This is a WISH LIST ONLY. No rumors here, folks. Your mileage may vary. Sorry, no refunds.
End of Disclaimer.
High hopes for all the following now Apple products to appear next week at MacWorld’s Keynote, given by Steve Jobs . . .
(Also, just about everybody and their three uncles have been chatting all this stuff up, so we are just giving you a short summary here).
On to the Wish List . . .
A new $500 Headless iMac entry level model
A G4 for sure, if this thing even exists.
This one is too profound a change for Apple. An entry level Mac would mean that they will have completely changed their whole computing paradigm. Therefore, let’s leave this one as just a rumor and nothing more. . . .
Still . . . This would be the perfect time for Apple to do something like this, given all the iPods Apple is selling, and how so many people are now abandoning the dubious and insecure Windows OS.
Accordingly, it should cost $600, since any new Apple product is always a hundred dollars more than anyone expects it to be.
You know? Too bad it won’t have a couple of extra Video Connections and an IR Port. Then it could be an Apple Media Center.
A reported new Motorola iPod Cell Phone
With or without any of the following:
Music storage and playing capability (a no-brainer here)
Onboard 2 MP Camera
WiFi or Bluetooth
Onboard Micro Hard Drive or –
On board Flash Memory or –
Removable Flash Memory (256MB? or 512MB?)
Headset – or
No Headset
Color Screen – or
Monochrome Screen
Photo Storage and Viewing Capability
Etc., etc.
Actually, it doesn’t have to look like an iPod to be a winner. It just has to be an excellent Motorola Cell Phone that can download and play iTunes.
News of a reported Flash Memory Mini iPod
500 MB? 1 GB? Sans hard drive? For under $200? Apple would nail a price point here (and gain more market share) with the majority of music players, which are all flash based and less than $200.
NewMini iPod Colors (In Black, this time?)
A HELLO KITTY iPod (Just for Chris Siebold)
Don’t forget a new, brightYellow and Black “X-MEN†iPod too. (Just for my grandson)
A new GarageBand Audio Box
One that can connect anything to anything, for use with GarageBand. This rumored device is codenamed “Astroid.†It is simply a Firewire driven breakout box, under $200, and would include two XLR/ TRS audio input connectors, two RCA analog output jacks, and a standard headphone jack.
Since Apple is already posting drivers for this, it is likely to be a real device, and not just rumorware. Look for a major upgrade to GarageBand and iLife too.
Or an audio box that also has video capability (wouldn’t that make it a Media Player?).
A G5 PowerBook
Don’t look for this anytime soon, since sales of the current PowerBooks are solid. Besides, there are still heat issues with this chip, and IBM may have another, lower power iteration of the G5 coming out.
BTW, if Steve Jobs does introduce all of the above with “One More Thing,†his keynote will run about four hours in length.
Also, many expect that Steve Jobs will show upgrades to several iLife Suites, including perhaps a new application. No wishes here. I’m still reeling from trying to use all the iLife apps I already have.
So much for wish lists. . .
For next week, my money is on the iPod phone in a simple flash configuration, and the GarageBand Audio Device.
However, one thing I am very sure of. Whatever Next New Thing from Apple gets announced, it will cost at least a hundred more than anyone thinks it should – and it will sell very well! And Apple will have another nice problem in the foreseeable future, trying to keep up with the production of it.
See you next Monday, at MacWorld Expo, San Francisco! (Or watch this space for the latest up-to-the-minute news and photos from the Expo.)
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